Using the New @Mention Feature on Pinterest

I love Pinterest! Not only is it a place where I can promote my own blog posts, Etsy items and treasuries I have been featured in. I can also collect and organize all  my favorite craft DIYs, recipes, blogging tips, Etsy items and treasuries in one place.

Pinterest has many features that are similar to other social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter and Google+. You can follow other people (or Pinterest boards) that you are interested in so that their pins show up in your data feed. Then you have the ability to like, comment or re-pin the posts that you like. If you are feeling fancy, you can even use #hashtags when pinning on Pinterest. (Learn more about using #hashtags in my post #WhatIsaHashtag.)

Until recently, Pinterest has been missing one of the most common features that every other social network has, the ability to @mention other users.

What is an @mention and what happens when I use it?

This question can be answered best with an example.

I recently received a convo from one of our SPS teammies, RMS Flair from artzest, letting me know that I had been featured in her latest treasury, which I always appreciate :)

Of course I wanted to help promote the treasury so I pinned it.

I follow both RMSFlair and the SPS Team on Pinterest.

So, in the description section of my pin I wrote "Love this black and white collection created by @RMS Flair for the @SPSteamEtsy weekend treasury game."

Abracadabra! This is where the Pinterest/social networking magic happens.

First, there are now clickable links to @RMS Flair and @SPSteamEtsy in my pin. So if people want to see what RMS Flair and the SPS Team are pinning they can click on those links and be taken directly to their Pinterest profile pages.

Using an @mention is a nice way to give an extra bit of promotion and appreciation to other pinners you like.

Then there's a second piece of magic. Both RMS Flair and the SPS Team will get a notification on Pinterest and/or an e-mail letting them know that they were mentioned. (Note: You can change your Pinterest notification preferences in the "settings" section of your profile.)

Here's a copy of e-mail that was sent to the SPS Team.

If the person you have @mentioned likes your pin chances are they will favorite, re-pin or comment on your post, which helps spread it to even more people, which is the whole purpose of social networking.

Finally, as I said before, @mentions can be used on other social networks as well. As long as you know someone's username on that particular social network, you can @mention them.

Thanks to RMS Flair  from artzest for treasuring me and inspiring this blog post!

I <3 artzest by @RMSFlair on Etsy! http://t.co/kZjaXRPYID #ooak #jewelry #spsteam pic.twitter.com/PpjlufamEY

— thechillydog (@thechillydog) August 10, 2014

PRESENTED TO YOU BY OUR LEADER :

My name is Ellen and I LOVE to design and create things. I find it deeply satisfying to start with nothing more than an idea and finish with a tangible, beautiful, functional piece of work. I enjoy learning new techniques that I can incorporate into my creations. I practice a variety of different art forms, but find I always have at least one knit, crochet or sewing project in progress.

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